PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Led by three goals from junior attacker Jess Dunn and senior midfielder Nikki Marcinik, the 10th-ranked Tigers (11-3, 5-1) secured third third straight Colonial Athletic Association Tournament berth by edging Drexel University (10-5, 2-3), 12-8, at Vidas Field on Friday afternoon.
With the win, the Tigers have now won games in a row while defeating the Dragons for the 17th straight time. Towson leads the all-time series by a 27-1 margin.
After Marcinik gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the first half, the Dragons responded by scoring back-to-back goals from senior attacker Becca Drylie-Perkins and junior defender Katie Blazer for a 2-1 advantage with 19:57 remaining.
But, the Tigers answered with a three-goal run, including two goals from Dunn, to take a 4-2 lead with 12:33 remaining in the first half.
The Dragons tied the game at 4-4 with a pair of goals before Towson ended the first half with three consecutive goals in the final four minutes to take a 7-4 lead into the intermission.
Drylie-Perkins scored an unassisted goal with 24:47 left in the second half before the Tigers responded with three consecutive goals to extend their advantage to 10-5 with 17:05 remaining. The Dragons cut the deficit to 10-7 with two goals in a 51-second span.
But, the Tigers put the game out of reach by scoring two goals in a 23-second span, upping their advantage to 12-6. The Tiger defense held Drexel to just one goal over the final 14 minutes to secure the win.
While Marcinik and Cloud each scored three goals in the victory, sophomore attacker Katie Cloud scored a season-high two goals for the Tigers. Meanwhile, senior midfielder Hillary Fratzke scored a goal and an assist while contributing seven draw controls and six ground balls. She became the Tigers' career ground ball leader, passing Melissa Garner, '03. She now has 186 ground balls in her college career.
Drylie-Perkins led the Dragons with three goals and an assist while senior midfielder Katie Lawson contributed two goals. Junior goalkeeper Whitney Johnson made 15 saves in a losing effort for the Dragons, who were outshot by a 35-22 margin.
The Tigers will finish their CAA regular season schedule on Sunday afternoon when they host Hofstra University at 1 p.m. Prior to the game, the Tigers will honor their nine-member senior class.
Meanwhile, the Dragons will travel to the University of Delaware for a 1 p.m. game against the Blue Hens on Sunday.
College Women's Lacrosse: #10 Towson University 12, Drexel University 8
Towson (11-3, 5-1) 7-5 / 12
Drexel (10-5, 2-3) 4-4 / 8
Goals: TOW - Nikki Marcinik 3, Jess Dunn 3, Katie Cloud 2, Jacie Kendall 1, Hillary Fratzke 1, Ashley Waldron 1, Lauren McAfee 1; DREX - Becca Drylie-Perkins 3, Katie Lawson 2, Katie Blazer 1, Kelli Joran 1, Morgan Holbrook 1. Assists: TOW - Sarah Appelt 2, Hillary Fratzke 1, Jacie Kendall 1; DREX - Becca Drylie-Perkins 1, Katie Lawson 1. Saves: TOW - Mary Teeters 8 (60:00, 8 goals allowed); DREX - Whitney Johnson 15 (60:00, 12 goals allowed). Shots: TOW - 35; DREX - 22. Free-Position Opportunities: TOW - 4 for 8; DREX - 4 for 8. Attendance: 127.
Post-Game Notes:
- The Tigers clinched their sixth CAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years ... The Tigers have reached the CAA Tournament in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
- Drexel have lost three of its last four games ... The Dragons' only win during the stretch was a 10-5 victory over George Mason last Sunday afternoon.
- With her goal and assist on Friday afternoon, Fratzke extended her goal-scoring and point-scoring streaks ... She has now scored a goal in 62 straight games, which is the second-longest streak in NCAA Division I history ... Fratzke has also tallied a point in 68 consecutive games.
- Dunn tallied the ninth "hat trick" of her college career ... She also has 12 career multi-goal games and 12 career multi-point games.
- Marcinik recorded her second straight "hat trick" and her third "hat trick" of the season ... Marcinik has 17 "hat tricks" in her career.
- Marcinik also has 33 career multi-goal games and 44 career multi-point games.
- Dunn and Fratzke remain the only Tigers who have scored a goal in all 14 games this year.
- Kendall extended her goal-scoring and point-scoring streaks to nine straight games.
- The Tigers improved to 7-0 this season when holding an opponent under ten goals ... They are also 9-0 when scoring the game's first goal.
- The Tigers have led at least once in 13 of their 14 games this season.
- The Tigers are now 9-1 when taking at least 30 shots ... They are 4-0 this year when attempting at least 40 shots in a game.
